3 Series on Podcasting: Just try it

Posted on October 29, 2007
Filed under Podcasts & Podcasting

To podcast or not to podcast? What is it? What would I use it for in a LOTE classroom? Isn’t it just a bit too hard?

A podcast is simply an audio or video file that you can share. Podcasts usually come in an mp3 format and there are thousands out there on just about every topic imaginable – news and current affairs, technology, the world of dogs and cats, podcasts for running, language courses and so very many more. You could think of a podcast as a radio show that you can create yourself. You record what you have to say, edit it a bit, add some groovy music maybe and voila, a podcast. You don’t have to make it available online, but that is a great way to share your work with other teachers and students in other schools. You can be guaranteed that no matter what it is you podcast about there will be someone out there who will be interested in listening to it.

As for using podcasting in the LOTE classroom – what a fabulous tool! So far, I have used podcasting to record my students speaking Chinese and put these recordings on the classroom blog so their parents can hear what they can do. My Gr 6 class worked in small groups and created podcasts about the Great Wall of China. You can hear them here. Other ways I’d like to try using podcasting are:

Getting students to create audio lessons for other year levels at our school and at other schools
For higher year levels, recording that sort of lesson content that can be a bit laborious to go through in class, leaving time to play more games and spend time talking to the kids about how they are going with their language learning. Recording this sort of content gives the students the chance to listen to it several times at their own pace and gain a deeper understanding. That way we can use class time to answer questions and have discussions about what we are learning that we may not have otherwise got around to if we had had to spend the time going over the content for the first time.
Getting students to create podcasts where they chat to or interview other students about what interests them about China.

Podcasting is so much easier than it sounds, and really is totally accessible to anyone who is interested. All you really need to know is

how to make a recording
turn it into an mp3 file
and if you want to, publish it to the web.

There are several ways to do these things, but I will show you one that will get you started and creating some pretty cool podcasts! All the software you need is free and I’ve created an instructional video that will help you along the way. If you are interested in giving podcasting a go, stay tuned for the next posts in this 3 Series on Podcasting, and for my next podcast where you will hear me interview someone who has won an award for his use of podcasting. The power of the pod is on it’s way to you.

To read more on podcasting and to find out how to make one yourself, check out these posts: DIY Podcasting!, Podcasting: Some Groovy Resources and Where to Find More, Making Teaching More Human (technoLOTE podcast Episode 2).